Highlights
- GTA VI’s new Game Informer cover story offers a closer look at Rockstar’s vision for Leonida.
- The feature explores how Rockstar is expanding the world beyond its map and environments.
- New details provide further insight into what players can expect from GTA VI ahead of launch.
Rockstar Games has partnered with Game Informer for a 14-page Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA VI) cover story. The feature gives players a closer look at Leonida, including its characters, activities, wildlife, weather systems, and open-world design.
The feature includes 12 new screenshots, interviews with Rockstar's lead designers, and details from the studio's research into Miami and Florida.
Rockstar announced the partnership on X on Sep 29, 2026, confirming that the full feature was available for free through the Game Informer app. The announcement quickly drew heavy traffic, with multiple users on Reddit reporting that both the Game Informer website and app became slow or temporarily inaccessible around the release.
Some users attributed the disruption to the surge of people trying to access the GTA VI feature, although Game Informer has not publicly confirmed that traffic caused the outage.
The November 2026 issue is also available as a physical collector's edition featuring the 14-page GTA VI cover story and exclusive cover art, with international shipping and instant digital access. The complete digital feature is available for free through the Game Informer app, so readers do not need to purchase the print edition to access the story.
Game Informer's archive also places the new issue alongside its previous Vice City, San Andreas, GTA IV, and GTA V covers.
GTA VI Map, Weather, and Wildlife Expand Leonida
The feature details Rockstar's approach to Leonida, its fictional version of Florida. The map is twice the size of GTA V's, according to Rockstar North co-studio head, Aaron Garbut, with the studio also focusing on density and detail across the world.
Leonida is divided into six regions:
- Vice City
- Port Gellhorn
- Leonida Keys
- Grassrivers
- Ambrosia
- Mount Kalaga National Park
The story will take Jason and Lucia across these areas, showing different environments and socioeconomic settings.
Ambrosia contains factories and refineries controlled by a biker gang separate from the Lost MC. Garbut stated that Rockstar aimed to increase scale, interaction, detail, breadth, and density across the project rather than compromising between them.
Rockstar has also rebuilt the weather system around localized, persistent, and dynamic conditions. Rain can occur in one part of Leonida while another remains clear, while puddles and rainbows can indicate that an area recently experienced rainfall. Wind can affect water, hair, and debris.
Tropical storms and hurricanes are also confirmed.
Rockstar has not disclosed how frequently they will occur or whether they will affect the story. Their presentation includes heavy clouds, strong winds, dense atmospheric effects, heavy rain, water running from surfaces, thunder, and lightning.
Wildlife is similarly integrated into the environment, with more than 170 animal species planned across Leonida. This includes more than 60 bird species, over 30 land mammals, and aquatic creatures such as sharks, turtles, whales, jellyfish, and rays, alongside other fish and reptiles.
Aquatic animals will have distinct movement behaviors and can be encountered while scuba diving. Rockstar has further confirmed animal tracking and rare animal types. One screenshot shows Jason approaching deer with a rifle, suggesting hunting will return, although the supplied information does not detail the full mechanic.
Rockstar vice president of dynamic art, Michael Kane, said the team researched Florida's ecosystem to represent wildlife across urban, rural, wetland, aquatic, and swamp environments.
GTA VI Adds More Detail to NPCs, Activities, and Criminal Systems
Rockstar is also increasing variation among Leonida's NPCs.
Characters can differ in height, skin characteristics, weight, body type, tanning, moles, and other physical features. Their clothing can change according to location and circumstances, including differences in dirt and weathering.
The game will feature Rockstar's largest collection of garments and accessories to date, covering shoes, sneakers, sunglasses, hats, watches, patterns, colors, and branding. Kane explained that the team considered materials, fit, weathering, and culturally significant items when creating the clothing system.
Players will have activities beyond the main story, including:
- Base jumping
- Scuba diving
- Street and off-road racing
- Zoos
- Billiards
- Gyms
- Kayaking
- Mini golf
- Air boating
- Jet skiing
Travel is also being expanded through ride-share vehicles.
Players can share rides with other passengers and participate in unique conversations while moving around the map. Snapmatic, the game's social media parody, can also be accessed during these journeys. Jason and Lucia cannot create their own posts because maintaining a visible social media presence could put them at risk.
Robberies offer multiple approaches, with Jason and Lucia able to work together or separately and choose between quieter or more direct methods. These decisions can influence the police response. The protagonists can also split up during police encounters, although either character being overwhelmed by law enforcement results in a game over.
Vehicle theft includes additional systems.
Higher-end cars can require specialized tools and may contain tracking or security systems. The WAiNK app can provide information about a vehicle's resale value, security system, and the cost of making it a personal vehicle. Stolen vehicles can then be sold through a fence.
Game Informer/Official Site
GTA VI Choices Shape Jason and Lucia's Story
Player decisions will also affect the relationship between Jason and Lucia.
Players can take the characters on dates, respond to calls and messages, open doors, and hold hands. Their relationship can develop romantically or remain platonic depending on player choices.
Those decisions extend into the wider story. Rockstar has indicated that choices, both wide and small, can influence the narrative, creating different story paths across multiple playthroughs.
The Game Informer feature also covers Rockstar's research into Miami and Florida, including cultural and visual accuracy, clothing, wildlife, regional environments, architecture, and weather. Its coverage is based on interviews with Rockstar's lead designers and places the new issue within Game Informer's longer history with the franchise.
With GTA VI scheduled for November 2026, the feature offers a broader look at Rockstar's approach to its next open-world game. The information points to a world built around interconnected systems covering weather, wildlife, NPCs, transportation, activities, crime, vehicles, clothing, and player-driven choices rather than map size alone.
